PVV

PVV member Karen Gerbra﻿nds resigned as a parliamentarian out of disappointment about the lack of sympathy and support she received from her party after the death of her friend and fellow party member Willie Dille. Gerbrands has "never felt so alone" as in the past months in the PVV, she said in her farewell letter to the Tweede Kamer, which was presented to Kamer president Khadija Arib on Wednesday, NU.nl reports.

One of two American tourists who were stabbed at Amsterdam Central Station in August is now bound to a wheelchair and may be for the rest of his life, his lawyer said in a pro-forma hearing against suspect Jawed S. on Tuesday. The other victim was stabbed in his arm and sustained nerve damage, NU.nl reports.

A large majority in the lower house of Dutch parliament supports the government's intention to sign the United Nations' new migration pact next week, was revealed in a debate on the matter on Tuesday.

In addition to coalition parties VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie, the pact is also supported by GroenLinks, PvdA and DENK, NU.nl reports PVV, 50Plus, SGP and FvD are against the pact. They fear that migrants may derive new rights form the pact. PvdD and SP are still considering.

The top man of the Public Prosecution Service discussed the hate-speech case against PVV leader Geert Wilders with then VVD Minister of Justice Ivo Opstelten, Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security said in a letter to parliament. Previously the Prosecutor and various officials from the Justice Ministry denied that this case was discussed, RTL Nieuws reports.

A majority of the lower house of Dutch parliament is very concerned about the communication system for the emergency services and police C2000, which is provided by a Chinese company. "Our communication systems must never be unnecessarily vulnerable", the VVD said. The ruling party and opposition parties GroenLinks, SP and PVV therefore call for the Netherlands to stop using Chinese software for vital infrastructure, RTL Nieuws reports.

There are "indications" that former Minister Ivo Opstelten of Justice and Security urged the Public Prosecution Service in 2014 to prosecute PVV leader Geert Wilders for hate speech over statements he made about Moroccans, Wilders' lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops said. He asked the court for "further investigation" into the question of whether the Minister influenced this case, Knoops said to RTL Nieuws.

The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, adopted a motion that will allow kids in public schools to refuse participating in religious acts during a school trip to a religious institution like a church, mosque or synagogue. Parents can apply for an exemption for their kids, the motion states, RTL Nieuws reports.

A majority in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, supports a proposal by ruling party VVD to build more nuclear power plants in the Netherlands. Opponents worry about nuclear waste and what it will mean for future generations, NOS reports.

The VVD proposal was supported by the VVD, PVV, CDA and FvD. Proponents believe that the Netherlands can not afford to outright reject nuclear energy. But they also point out the disadvantages - nuclear waste, the construction of a nuclear plant is a long process, and it is an expensive source of energy.

The Turkish-Islamic cultural federation TICF, a foundation that speaks for 144 Turkish mosques in the Netherlands, demands that Twitter block the account of PVV leader Geert Wilders. According to the TICF, many of Wilders' statements are contrary to Twitter's terms of use. If Twitter does not block the populist politician's account, the foundation will go to court, lawyer Ejder Kose said to newspaper AD.

Twitter accounts run by Russian trolls from St. Petersburg tweeted about the MH17 disaster 1,400 times, according to an analysis by NOS of a database of tweets released by Twitter on Wednesday. The database consists of 9 million tweets from Russian trolls and another 1 million tweets by Iranian trolls, including retweets. The tweets were posted by 3,814 accounts that Twitter linked to the Internet Research Agency based in St. Petersburg. Another 770 accounts are based in Iran.

The new plans of the Rutte III government now that dividend tax will not be abolished, can not count on the support of the opposition parties, was revealed during a parliamentary debate on Tuesday evening. The opposition parties were all clearly irritated, NU.nl reports.

The abolition of the dividend tax will definitely not happen, Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced after a coalition meeting on Monday evening. The government and the coalition parties reconsidered and decided to definitively reverse the most controversial measure in the government agreement. "The fact is that support for this measure was limited", Rutte said after the meeting, NU.nl reports.

The trial against 34 people suspected of blocking the A7 highway to prevent anti-Zwarte Peit protesters from reaching the national Sinterklaas arrival celebrations in Dokkum last year, started on Monday. The case was suspended shortly after it started because one of the judges, Willem Sikkema, lost consciousness, AD reports.

Alexander Pechtold is resigning as leader of the parliamentary faction of the D66, he announced at the party congress in Den Bosch on Saturday. The party will choose a successor on Tuesday. It is "time for a new generation", Pechtold said n his farewell speech, NU.nl reports.

PVV leader Geert Wilders put forward a proposal to ban all forms of Islamic expressions in the Netherlands during the first day of the General Considerations, the parliamentary debate on the government's plans and budget for the next year, on Wednesday. The proposal was immediately shot down by the other parties, NU.nl reports.

It is "precisely the intention" that not many child asylum seekers qualify for the children's pardon, State Secretary Mark Harbers of Justice and Security said in a debate about Lili and Howick on Wednesday. The two Armenian kids were set to be deported on Saturday, after living in the Netherlands for 10 years, but got an exemption at the last minute, AD reports.

The Dutch government supported Jabhat al-Shamiya, an armed group in Syria that the Public Prosecutor labeled terrorist, according to research by Nieuwsuur and Trouw. A Dutch man is currently being prosecuted for participating in this group. The indictment states that Jabhat al-Shamiya is "salafist and jihadist", "strives for the establishment of a caliphate", and "can't be otherwise qualified" than as a "criminal organization with terrorist intent", Nieuwsuur reports.

PvdE city council member in The Hague Arnoud van Doorn is receiving extra security since the death of PVV city councilor Willie Dille early last month. According to Van Doorn, the extra security is the result of a threat analysis. "I was already being threatened, but the threats have increased", Van Doorn said, ANP reports.

Minister Stef Blok of Foreign Affairs is facing the Tweede Kamer on Wednesday on statements he made about multicultural societies. He faced fierce criticism from the parliamentarians, including from coalition parties D66, CDA and ChristenUnie. Only populist parties PVV and FvD outright supported his remarks, NOS reports.

Jawed S., a 19-year-old Afghan man suspected of stabbing two American tourists at Amsterdam Central Station on Friday, expected to die in the attack, his lawyer Simon van der Woude said on Tuesday. "My client seems to have taken into account that he would not survive his action himself, because a testament was found in his home in Germany", the lawyer said, ANP reports.

"We have a free democracy, this video is revolting", Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security said to NOS about a man threatening to kill PVV leader Geert Wilders in a video on Facebook. The 26-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday.

Russian trolls are trying to influence Dutch discussions on social media with fake accounts, De Groene Amsterdammer reports based on its own research. These trolls show support for anti-Islam party PVV and spread pro-Russian information when it comes to the MH17 disaster, according to the weekly newspaper.